Wednesday, 13 May 2009

First Ciara was seen on MTV3 wearing our Tailored Sleevelss Jacket, and frankly she looks amazing! If I could have picked anyone to be seen wearing it I couldnt have come up with anyone more suited than Ciara. The pictures are below in the next post.

Then my partner JP sent an email to Frank Strachan, fashion editor of Attitude and stylist to the stars, to say hello. Within a couple of hours he had pinged one back asking if we had a Sporty Dress in a size 20, as he was getting ready to shoot Beth Ditto for the May issue of Attitude. Well we don't hold much stock and we definitely don't have an abundance of size 20's but I absolutely love Beth so there was no chance we were going to miss the opportunity. I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning making her dress myself, just to make sure it was perfect.

The following day, I was as giddy as a school girl, planning what I was going to say when we met. I took no notice of JP when he said not to get my hopes up as we may not even see her, of course we were going to see her!

As it turns out we didn'd see her, bugger! When we arrived at the shoot there were a load of people all being busy in that "I'm too busy to stop" kind of way. We found Frank and gave him the dress, we suggested we didn't mind hanging around to offer some styling tips but he was having none of it and we had to leave. I'm sure I saw the back of Beth's head though and should they decide to use the dress it will be more than worth it. We even told Frank that Beth can keep the dress, so hopefully she will be wearing it all over town.

As if that wasnt enough, we have also passed the first stage of The British Fashion Council's New Gen sponsorship scheme. We (along with probably 10 million other hopefuls) now have to submit 6 samples from our collection for judging. Should we be selected we basically get the funding to show at the next London Fashion Week which would be amazing!! I'll keep you posted.

OK, so I’m a bit of a sucker when it comes to love at first sight, and I’m pleased to say my instincts haven’t let me down so far. After all, I knew the second that I saw The Boy that it was a happily ever after story. The moment I saw the puppy I knew I was in it for keeps. And I was 100% smitten the instant I laid eyes on e.g…

e.g… is the lovechild of new UK Designer Emma Griffiths, a graduate of Westminster University, and her partner Jeanpierre Kalebic. Emma cut her teeth working for prestigious names such as Alexander McQueen and Boudicca, and this pedigree shines though in her work – its clear that e.g… plan on following in their ridiculously successful footsteps. The designs are strong and powerful, yet feminine; think of a girly, modern take on 80’s power dressing and you’d be partway there.

Personally, I love the way that Emma combines sharp silhouettes with flowing lines – her pieces are bang on trend for this season. Check out the exaggerated shoulders on theTailored Ribbon Jacket, or the sexy, flowing shape of the Cream Summer Dress…in fact check out the entire collection. It’s GORGEOUS!

Speed Racer

Sometimes the path of information moving along blogs is quite odd. A couple of weeks ago I received and email from a girl called Rachel telling me about a new label called e.g. She particularly pointed me in the direction of a blue dress she thought I'd love. Panelled, futuristic and a wee bit Emilio de la Morena. I sauntered over to the site and she was right on every count. I placed my order for the dress immediately and began my patient wait.

Then a few days later Style Bubbleposted about the label. I then received an email from Jeanpierre from e.g. telling me about them and I informed him that my order had already been placed. When he realised who I was he told me that Emma, the designer, was already making my dress and it would be arriving shortly. I didn't get any of the 'empowerment' chat Ms Bubble playfully had a pop at, but I must admit that when I put the dress on...I felt a smidgen empowered!

It arrived last week beautifully packaged and gorgeous.

I can vouch for the quality of this dress - it's wonderfully well made. It's not just a bog standard lycra dress, it's double layered for maximum strength and durability with what feels like slight padding in the shoulder area. It's exceptionally well structured, especially considering it is just lyrcra.

I immediately tried it with some electric blue tights and my Givenchy cream wedges.

It's undeniably very short and tight, so I will mostly be wearing it with Angie's cage skirt on top, unless I invest in some Spanx for pot belly days, but quite frankly the thought of squeezing myself into industrial strength underwear is too depressing, and since I refuse to give up Domino's pizza with extra cheese, sticky toffee pudding, salt and chilli chicken or pancakes with chocolate spread, I'll just need to live with the occassional tubby tum.

Of course not every day is a pot belly day (I don't eat pancakes and chocolate spread for breakfast every morning), so when I can I will wear it as it is.

I couldn't not try it with my wonderful Spartan leggings from my leggings pimp, who made them extra long for me. This looks like a full-on costume. It lends it an appealing super heroine/speed racer/Power Ranger/Pam Hogg kind of vibe to it. And I love it! I just need a good eye mask to match. The Luella Batman sunglasses would have been perfect!

It will also look great with my leather and vintage garter belts and my DIY pvc peplum layered over the top (again for pot belly days), but since it was really hot while I was taking these photo's, had I tried on any more clothes I was in serious danger of suffering death by lycra.

e.g...

I should be a little scared when the headline of a designer's website begins with"e.g...the UK's hottest new fashion label for empowered women...made in London." Not so much that name of label is called "e.g..." or that the clothes are made in London. But it's more to do with e.g...'s self-proclamations of hotness and empowered women that makes me a little dubious. What empowers someone is entirely subjective to the person and of course doesn't necessarily need to involve sharp nipped in waists, jutting out shoulders and bodycon tightness. However, all of those things apply to e.g... and I'm finding that there is still something that I quite like about the clothes.

Emma Griffiths, a Boudicca and McQueen alumnus is the brains behind e.g... and that employment history can be seen running through the sharp cutting, the tailoring and the attitude of the collection, which might have something to do with why I do like it. Young upstart labels rarely jump right into the structured and fitted genre pool with such gusto, and proclaim that they're hot to trot at the same time. They've already set up an eshop for empowered women to check out "UK's hottest new fashion label". I'm about as empowered as a dover sole flopping around on a chopping board in Zilli Fish but I'm about 80% there with this blue sporty lycra dress...

Just over a week ago, I went to a Fashion and web networking event and was lucky enough to meet Jeanpierre and Emma of e.g... made in London, a fresh new fashion label. The creative brains behind the label belong to Emma Griffiths (that would explain the e.g.) and Emma has worked with the likes of Alexander McQueen and Boudicca. I think that is all the endorsement they need! But in case you were wondering, Susie Bubble of Style Bubble and Michelle of Kingdom of Style have both praised the new label and these are ladies whose opinions are respected the UK over.

So what do I think of the designs? The sharp tailoring and bold silhouettes make for a contemporary style statement. The strong shapes hint at influences from eighties power dressing which I love. Exaggerated shoulders were all over the catwalk earlier in the year and Emma is ahead of the game on getting this into her online store.

I particularly love the bubble look hem and colour blocking on these dresses (below). The colour palette is fabulous mixing a subdued base colour with a bright accent. These are pretty and playful with confident lines and a belted waist to enhance the female figure.Other parts of the collection have a more boyish shape, like these sharp shirts (below). I would wear mine tucked into a tight pencil skirt for an enviable office look. Expect to pay between £100 up to just under £600 for the beautiful coats, but from what I hear, the quality of the cutting makes them worth every penny.

WAYS TO PROMOTE A NEW FASHION LABEL E.G... START WITH FASHION BLOGGERS

e.g., a new fashion label started by Emma Griffiths (who graduated from Westminster University last summer) and Jeanpierre Kalebic (a former estate agent), is one of the best examples I have seen of a fashion start-up getting on with the business of promoting themselves online, and successfully too.

There are tons of new fashion labels launching all the time, but unlike many of them Emma and Jeanpierre have focused first on getting coverage from fashion bloggers.

The next stage of their plan is to target online fashion magazines before beginning an assault on the fashion magazines, using the buzz from fashion blogs as a way in.

A very clever (and realistic) strategy if I do say so myself.

Every new label wants to be featured in Vogue and Grazia, but there is a lot to be gained by start-up labels from featuring on blogs like Style Bubble and Kingdom of Style.

Queen Michelle features e.g on Kingdom of Style blog

e.g. Sales Director Jeanpierre says “We have been picked up by a number of blogs and this has provided us with a steady stream of new visitors to the site”.

Fashion bloggers offer awareness, visitors to websites, search engine friendly links and post-blog commentary from their readers, often offering constructive insight into what they think of the range.

If I were to sum up my personal style with three words it would probably be tailored, tomboy and funky. If I were to sum up my personal style with one label, then London based e.g... would certainly be a contender.

The hot new label is the brainchild of Emma Griffith’s, a lady with an impressive CV, previously working with Alexander McQueen and Boudicca. The debut collection is an arresting mix of structured silhouettes and luxurious fabrics with silk jersey and silk taffeta prominently featured. I particularly like their trousers with back vents, the shape-shifting black trench, the blue silk taffeta skirt and their jackets (all three of them!)

e.g. - A Hot New London Label for Empowered Ladies

What's not to love about fashion inspired by 80s big-shouldered divas Grace Jones and Joan Collins...with some tomboy thrown in?

The brainchild of Emma Griffiths - who worked with both Alexander McQueen and Boudicca - and partner Jeanpierre Kalebic, they recently launched e.g. out of their East London studio, where everything is handmade using local talent. The structured Roland Mouret'ish sheaths, asymmetrical full skirts, and femme fatale trenches are timeless - yet right on trend - and just what the fashion doctor ordered.

London calling helped Emma Griffiths to success

FIVE years ago, an aspiring fashion designer left Wales to seek her fortune in London.

Armed with an array of sewing skills gleaned from her home economics classes and a healthy fear of the unknown, Emma Griffiths started at the bottom of the ladder.

But just half a decade later she has her own label, has worked with prestigious designers Alexander McQueen and Boudicca, and is on the cusp of cracking the American A-list scene. US chart-topper Ciara has recently been snapped in one of her creations and, with the top-end items in her just-released new collection retailing at a celeb-friendly £540, more appearances on the red carpet for her clothes are likely to follow.

Not bad for a 30-year-old who grew up watching her mother and grandmother making outfits. The dedicated designer from Llandaff, Cardiff, has her own studio in the trendy Spitalfields area of east London, and designs on some of the world’s most fashionable names.

But the designer was not always convinced of a future in fashion.

Ms Griffiths said: “I’ve always had an interest in clothes and from a young age I was able to learn about where they came from, but I didn’t know where that would take me. I remember when I was at Whitchurch High School and was asked to make a car tidy in my home economics class. I hated doing it and my teacher must’ve thought I was useless, but here I am now years later still sewing.”

The Welsh designer admitted that she got stuck in a rut in Cardiff, and the thought of moving to London and trying to make it in the fashion world was initially a daunting prospect.

“After school I did a course in hairdressing and make-up, worked in a bar, and just tried as many professions as I could”, she said.

“I think I was scared of moving to London with no money and no job security and just tried to put it to the back of my mind and do something else. But I realised something was missing and that I wasn’t doing what I should’ve been. I reached the age of 25 and thought ‘this is it, I’m going to London to follow my dream’ and I’ve never looked back since.”

She went on to study for a BA in fashion design at Westminster University and used work experience placements to get her where she is today.

The Emma Griffiths collection contains items ranging from £125 to £540 which are inspired by 80s style icons such as Grace Jones and Joan Collins. The pieces boast big shoulders, structured silhouettes and luxurious fabrics, and offer a range of distinctive looks for strong, independently minded women who like to stand out in a crowd.

Ms Griffiths, who tries to return home and visit her family in Llandaff as often as possible, said: “My clothes will always be strong. I like to challenge the norm and how we’re perceived as women. That’s what’s so great about London – you can wear what you want and no-one bats an eyelid. You could walk down the street naked in some parts and go unnoticed.”

Although Ms Griffiths is thrilled that pop star Ciara has requested pieces from her collection to wear around America, she said she would most like to see singer and cutting-edge fashion icon Roisin Murphy in her clothes.

“I’d also happily lend them to actress Tilda Swinton and Duffy is beautiful, so she’d look good in some of my pieces too,” she added.

The collection has clothes in sizes six to 12 but Ms Griffiths hopes to extend it to accommodate larger women.

She said: “I’m not into size zero and I don’t agree with the constant pressure on women to be stick thin. I see someone like Beth Ditto and I think she looks amazing. She knows she has lumps and bumps but carries it off – I’d happily let her wear my pieces.”

The designer, who hates going shopping because she can never find anything different enough, said she doesn’t like to think of herself as having “made it” in the fashion world as she is always aiming to strive for more.

“My advice to budding fashion designers is just to go for it”, she added.

“Try and do lots of work experience and always experiment and open your mind to new ideas.

“You will have tantrums and sleepless nights, but that’s just the way fashion goes, and I love it.”